Cabinet-lock.



N. HOLROYD.

CABINET LOCK. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-2h I915.

' Patented Feb. 29,1916.

' v attorney THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH 20., WASHINGTON, D. c.

TED s ATES r NEWTON HOLROYD, 0F SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY NICHOLIS METZGER, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

CABINET-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

Application filed September 21, 1915. Serial No. 51,846.

a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and Stat e of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cabinet-Locks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to locking means for closures or doors of cabinet-like or closet structures, and it has to do more particularly with structures of this character having more than one door or closure to be locked.

7 It is a particular object of this invention to provide a unitary locking means which is capable of not only looking companion doors or closures with respect to each other, and in a closed position, but to also securely I fasten such closed doors to a stationary part of the cabinet or closet structure, thereby avoiding the necessity of providing each door or closure with a separate and independent lock. and also avoiding the necessity of providing a dividing strip or mullion between the lock carrying stiles of the doors in order to provide a mount for the keepers, of the independent door locks.

My invention is particularly adapted and designed for closet or cabinet doors of the swinging type wherein it is frequently desired to open one door without opening the other, and wherein from an artistic consid eration, it is desirable to have the fullest or greatest possible glass area, in which construction, it is particularly advantageous to dispense with a dividing strip or mullion not only on account of the reduction in cost but because of the resulting improvement in appearance that a complete plan door front presents.

My invention has other features and objects of novelty which will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawing, and which will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawing :Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet provided with my improved unitary locking mechanism and illustrating the doors in a partly open position. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the difi'erent figures of the drawing.

In the particular form shown, 1 designates a cabinet provided with hingedly mounted front glass doors 2 and 3. The

doors 2 and 3 are provided with latch or look carrying upright stiles 4: and 5, the edges 6 and 7 of which are arranged to close in edgewlse abutting relation thereby avoiding the usual dividing strip or mullion. 'SELlCl cabinet is provided wlth an interiorly disposed stationary portion which may constitute a shelf 8. the outer edge of which is arranged to receive the inner faces 9 and 10, of the door stiles. in flat abutting relation, as'shown in Figs. 2 and 3, when the doors are closed. Of course it will be understood that as far as the door jamb is concerned, the interior fixed or stationary part 8 may merely function as a supplemental jamb. in addition to the jamb molding with which the interior of the cabinet 1 may be provided. The main point is that I desire to have the lock bearing stiles 1 and 5 of the doors fit against that interior or stationary part to which a portion of my improved locking mechanism is attached. as will hereinafter appear, so as to insure an effective closure of the doors even in the event of slight warping or looseness of the doors on their hinges. I may if desired. provide the shelf 8 with cushioning abutments in the form of springs 11 and 12, which may be socketed in the shelf 8 as indicated in Fig. 3, to neutralize the force of'impact of the doors against the shelf in case the former were slammed or closed in an accidentally vigorous manner.

In stile 4, of door 2, I insert a lock casing 13 in such a manner as to dispose the casing flush with the interior of the stile 4'. Casing 13 is closed by a face plate 14 which is likewise fiush with the exterior face of stile 4L. Said casing 13 is provided with latch bolt bearing partitions 15 and 16. and in the latter, is slidably mounted the shank end 17 of a spring actuated reciprocating latch bolt 18. The shank 17 is somewhat reduced with respect to the bolt head 18 and an expansively acting spring 19 is interposed between partition 16 and head 18 so as to normally urge the bolt into the position shown in Fig. 2. The bolt head projects through a suitable opening in the end wall 20, of the casing 13,

and an operating grip is provided which may be in the form of a stem 21, fixed to the bolt head, and projecting through the face plate 14 and provided on its terminal end with a finger grip 22. A suitable slot 23, in the face plate 14, provides for retractive movement of the finger grip to retract the bolt head 18 from the projected position shown in Fig. 2, into a retracted position with the outer end of its head fiush with the end wall 20. It will be noted that the bolt head 18 has a latch end or nose24 which is rounded off at 25.

Stile 5 of door 3 is provided with a keeper which may include an apertured end plate 26, secured to the edge 7 of said stile 5, with the aperture in registry with a cavity 27 so that when the bolt head is in the position shown in Fig. 2, it will lock door 3 against opening movement. As the finger grip 22 is retracted, to the left of Fig. 2, the latch end 24 will be withdrawn from the keeper 26 so as to free door 3 for opening movement. After door 3 has been opened, it may be closed without retracting latch head 18 by reason of the fact that engagement of the edge 28, of the keeper 26, against the rounded nose 25 of the head 18, will cause the latter to automatically retract and then project into the cavity 27, after the door 3 has been closed. 7 7

I will next describe the means by which my improved unitary locking mechanism or means is fastened to a fixed interior portion of the cabinet. A keeper 29 is shown fixed to the bottom of shelf 8, by means such as screws 30, and I provide a pivoted latch 31 for engagement with said keeper. Said latch 31 is provided with a rounded nose 32 for sliding engagement against the keeper 29 so that the door 2 will be automatically locked when it is closed. The pivoted latch 31 is shown pivoted at 33, in the end wall 34 and partition 15, and said pivoted latch is in the form of a bell crank lever, the operating arm of which is indicated. at 35. A finger grip 36, movable in the slot 37 in the face plate 13, extends into rigid engagement with arm 35, and a spring 38 is interposed betweenthe face plate 14, and said arm 35, to normally hold the latter in the osition shown in Fi 3. In order to close the slot 37, I may provide a spring strip 39, fixed to plate 14: as indicated at 40, against which spring 38 may abut. Now it will be seen that as the right hand end of finger grip 36 is elevated, from the'positio'n shown in Fig. 3, the latch lever 31 will be shifted out of engagement with keeper 29 so that both doors could be opened simultaneously. Or, alternatively, door 2 could be opened independently of door 3 by retracting head 18, at the same time that door 2 is freed for opening movement.

It will now be clear that I have disclosed a unitary locking mechanism, carried on one of the doors, which not only serves to lock said door in a closed position by engagement with an interior fixed portion of the cabinet, but which also functions to lock the remaining door in a closed position, great stress being laid upon the fact that the rounded nose 25 faces outwardly, instead of inwardly, thereby providing for automatic locking of door 3 when the latter is closed, as shown in Fig. 2.

It is believed that the utility and advantages of my invention will be clear from the foregoing description and while I have herein shown and described. one specific form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

I claim r v 1. In a locking mechanism for cabinet like structures, independently openable closures,

a stationary part interiorly disposed with respect to said closures, and a unitary lock mechanism carried by one of said closures for coaction with the other closure and said stationary part to independently lock said closures in a closed position and lock both closures to said stationary part, substantially as described.

2. In combination, a cabinet like structure provided with swinging doors and a fixed part disposed interiorly of said doors, and a unitary lock mechanism carried by one of said doors for coaction with the other door and said stationary part to independently lock said closures in a closed position and lock both of said closures to said fixed part, substantially as described.

3. In combination, a cabinet like structure provided with swinging doors anda" fixed part disposed interiorly of said doors, a lock mechanism mounted on one of said doors and provided with a latch bolt, a

with the reciprocating bolt, and a keeper on said fixed part for coaction with said swinging bolt, substantially as described.

5. In combination, a cabinet like structure provided with swinging doors, a shelf fixed in said structure, a lock mechanism on one of said doors provided with a reciprocating latch bolt and a swinging latch bolt, the remaining door being provided with a keeper for coaction with said reciprocating bolt, and a keeper on said shelf for coaction for coaction with said stationary part to with said swinging bolt, substantially as dehold the said door closed and said locking. 10 scribed. mechanism having movable means for hold- 6. In combination, a cabinet like strucing the remaining door closed, substantially ture, independently openable doors, a staas described. tionary part for said structure, and unitary In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. locking mechanism carried by one of said doors and having a movable locking means NEWTON HOLROYD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

